


Our Lord King

by winterking (orphan_account)



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-20
Updated: 2014-02-10
Packaged: 2018-01-09 09:16:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1144229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/winterking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU cannon divergence. When Ned Stark left Dorne with his sister's son in his arms he didn't flee home, to the North he returned to King's Landing and took the throne from Robert's reach, he was not about to see his friend run the Kingdoms to the ground. What will his sacrifices cost him? His friends? His family? His life?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

Ned Stark was never meant to sit the throne, he was never even meant to be a lord, he was trained to fight not to rule but he would burn in all Seven Hells before he let Robert run the Kingdoms into the ground. Ned hated King’s Landing, he hated the smell, he hated the people but he hated the confinement of the Red Keep and the smouldering heat of the summer sun. He never should’ve left the North; none of the Starks should’ve left the North, not after what happened during the war.

He wanted to go north after leaving Dorne, wanted to run home with his tail between his legs and take the seat he didn’t deserve but he couldn’t. He had promised Lyanna he would protect the boy, that he would protect Rhaegar’s son form Robert’s rage so he returned to the capital with his ‘bastard’ in his arms and took the cold metal chair from Robert’s reach.

…

“Ned? Ned are you alright?” Catelyn’s eyes seemed worried but pleading still, like she hoped that nothing could ever trouble him. _Brandon should have been the one to marry her not I._ He didn’t believe he deserved a woman like Catelyn Tully. “Ned?”

“Yes Catelyn I am quite alright,” He hoped he assured her well enough but he couldn’t un-see the worry that etched her face, there was something else that pained her, something that was not him. “Are you?”

“What? Yes, yes Ned I am perfectly fine. Is nothing of import.” There it was again the never-ending worry etched behind her smile. Mayhaps she missed Brandon, mayhaps sometimes she pictured Brandon in his place, but he was long dead. Burned in the throne room with many other lords.

Ned returned to his letters, reading aloud to Catelyn all the happenings of the Kingdoms and beyond. She always seemed enthralled by current affairs, and he knew he could trust she wouldn’t share any word they spoke outside their chambers, so he read to her, like a parent reads to their child.

They were interrupted by a knock at the door and Ned bid them entry. “Your Grace.” The ageing Maester bowed and stepped toward the desk. “I bring news from Winterfell. I believe it comes from your son, from Robb.” The withered man procured a small scroll from his sleeves and left without another word.

Ned watched as his wife slowly unfolded the parchment, saving the direwolf seal, and began to read aloud. Robb announced his arrival at Greywater Watch and his impending travels through the Riverlands. Ned watched the smile spread across her face at the mentions of her family in Riverrun and when she finished there were unshed tears in her eyes and the brightest smile spreading across her lips.

“I’m so proud of him Ned. He is a proper lord now. He will make a great King someday.” But he wouldn’t. Jon Snow would sit the throne when Ned finally passed. He promised his sister he would protect her son and that he would but even if Ned Stark sat the throne now, Jon Targaryen would be his heir and the only others that knew the truth were Howland Reed and the Dragon Queen of Meereen.

“In time My Lady, in time.” He reached forward and threaded his fingers in between hers. “He will get his birth right Catelyn, he will get what he deserves.” In truth Robb would have deserved the throne as much as any other of Ned’s children but not when Jon was the King’s son, not when he was the true heir.

She gave him one last warm smile and a soft kiss on the cheek before departing with her newfound happiness. _Perhaps she was just worried about Robb. Perhaps it is nothing to concern myself with._ It worried him how distraught she had become lately and he hoped it was nothing serious.

Only once she was gone did he remove the last letter from his desk and unfold the rolled parchment. _Dark wings, dark words._ The sound the seal made when the neck of the crowned stag snapped sent a shiver through his body. Robert was once his dearest friend but when he stole his throne his Lannister bride whispered her hatred in his ear and his rage boiled. It was a concerning thing to have such a powerful enemy just on the other side of the Kingswood.

It was Cersei Lannister’s hand that scratched the page. The woman had a habit of instilling a queer uneasiness in anyone she met. If a stare could kill half of Westeros would already be dead. Dark words they would be indeed.

_Dearest Ned,_

_I am sorry to have to write this letter on behalf of my husband but he has been severely wounded by a boar while on a hunt and has requested your visit to Storm’s End. I do not wish my dear husband to be saddened before his death so it is of great import that you visit us for a while. He has some proposals he would like to make._

_Cersei_

Lies, all lies. The woman never loved Robert only wanted his power and money. She had admitted to Catelyn that she believed she could love him once but when he called out the name of Lyanna on their wedding night she had harboured nothing but hatred for the man since. It wouldn’t have surprised him if she had killed him herself.


	2. II

_Go to them Dany. Cross that bloody blackened water and storm their homes the way they did ours. Kill them, burn them, slit their throats while they sleep. They deserve that fate Dany. They deserve to pay for what they did to us, for what they did to our father, our mother, our brother and his children_ _. Kill them Dany, Kill them all._ It was Viserys’ voice. It was always Viserys’ voice that told her these things, even all those years after his death.

“He says the boy will sit the throne after his death but not before. He has too many enemies for that.” It was Daario’s voice that broke her revere. Even in his aging state the man fought without loosing and fought with honour, it was good to know she had one loyal soldier.

“Let the man do as he wishes they say he is honourable so be it let him live out his days and have the boy come to rule, he is after all my brothers son.” The boy shared her blood, what was she to do but give him his birthright. Viserys would have ‘woken the dragon’ if he heard of the threat to his throne. He wanted nothing more than to be king like his father, madness and all.

“I have only met the man once Your Grace and I cannot speak of his honour...” He began to say but she was growing bored. The man couldn’t just write the letter and be done with it. If he continued this way she was sure she would be here through the night.

“Just give him my blessing for the Gods’ sake and be on with it. It’s been fifteen years since the rebellion, so send me the Kingslayer and I’ll sit here high and mighty and far from the misery of Westeros.”

“Do you wish me to write that Your Grace?” _Idiot._ She brought him here to write the letters he offered to write and he wondered what he was supposed to do. _Valar Dohaeris._ If he was supposed to serve her then why didn’t he. What good is a man to do a woman’s job.

“Yes bloody well write it. Tell Ned Stark that _if_ he wants to keep his throne to send me Jaime Lannister or send his head in a box. If not they will all burn inside their pretty castles.”

“Daenerys is that really wise. To threaten a king is such a way. He has men at his back, men that support him more than they did your father. Ned Stark did not command anything that was done to your family, that is all in the hands of Robert Baratheon.”

“Then bring me his head along with the Kingslayer, bring me the head of any man that killed my family or any of my father’s men. How many heads will I have then Daario? How many will cover the loss of the home I never knew? I only want Jaime Lannister for what he did. Robert Baratheon should punish for my brother’s life but he already lies on his deathbed at the hands of another golden twin.”

“My Queen,” It was endless, the man always had some reason or another not to write the letter, he didn’t have to of course but if he was going to offer he better damn well do it.

“I don’t want to hear it. Send for Lannister’s head or I will take it my self.” She pushed up from her seat with enough force that the chair crashed to the floor and the sound echoes through the small solar. “And Daario,” she waited until his eyes met hers. “Write the letter now, or your head will sit atop a pike right next to Lannister.”

The doors slowly closed behind her and she was met with the endless silence of the stone corridors. Two of the Unsullied stood guard outside the door but she knew neither name so she simply pointed to one and set on her way.

Meeren was by far the richest of the slaver cities and world renowned as the most beautiful. Its pyramids rose high and mighty into the skies, vastly different from the endless plains and rows of tents she lived in with the Dothraki but it was still somewhat of a home. “Send for Missandei I wish to speak with her.”

"What is it you wish to speak with me about Your Grace?" The girl's soft voice replied.


End file.
